This is an amazingly tasty dish. Baby Lady hardly ever eats a whole chicken quarter but she did this one. 🙂
Baby Lady loves figs. I really didn’t eat a lot of figs until I met her. Now we eat them whenever they are in season although the season is relatively short. Nonetheless, they are such a wonderful treat. There is nothing else in the world like a fresh fig.
This recipe came about when I had purchased a lot of figs at one of my trips to the market. I then left town for 6 days to take care of our youngest rodent, Daniel, who lives alone and was having surgery on his nose. When I got back I found all of the figs were still in the fridge where I left them. 😮 I had assumed Baby Lady would snack on these little treasures while I was gone because she loves them soooo much. Hmmmm…I was sadly mistaken because she didn’t eat any of them. This then posed a dilemma. What do I do with some very ripe, fresh figs. They have a very short shelf life and something needed to be done right then. So, I pondered. I could make fig preserves. Those are really tasty but these figs were overly ripe and sweet. I could make another batch of brandied figs but these were small, black Mission figs and I prefer the larger Turkish figs for preserving in brandy. I could make a fig tart or tatin but I wasn’t in the mood. I wanted something savory with a touch of sweetness. A chutney of sorts came to mind. Yah, that’s the ticket. I had some nice chicken quarters in the fridge that would go very nicely with the fig chutney. So, why not give it a try? So I did.
As I was getting ready to start laying everything out to fix dinner, Baby Lady asked me what I was fixing for dinner. I told her I was going to do chicken and fig chutney with some nice balsamic vinegar and the fresh figs. Now, Baby Lady isn’t a huge fan of balsamic vinegar and I don’t use it a lot. I could also tell from the look on her face she had serious doubts about dinner. Nonetheless, being the trooper and wonderful lady she is she didn’t say a word and helped me fix dinner. She also took all of the photos which is a tremendous help on the blog. Finally, dinner was ready and we sat down to eat. I had not realized it but Baby Lady had not eaten lunch and was quite famished. I ate half of the chicken quarter, some rice and the side we fixed and was pleasantly full. Baby Lady, however, ate the whole thing. I was surprised because it was very un Baby Lady like. She then told me she had missed lunch because she had been so busy with work. She also revealed “You know, I didn’t think I would like this but it turned out very good. I like it a lot.” I chuckled and commented she had to like it because she ate all of it. 😀 While I never doubted it would turn out good, she was right. This dish is absolutely delicious and this is what we did.
Ingredients
- 2 chicken quarters
- 2 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves, divided
- 1/2 tsp salt, divided
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 1/2 cup chicken broth (preferably homemade)
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 2 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce
- 1-1/2 cup chopped fresh figs
Instruction
Preheat oven to 350 F. Score the chicken to the bone.
Scoring the chicken quarters helps them cook quicker and allows the seasoning to get into the flesh of the chicken. Once scored, season both sides with salt
Freshly ground black pepper
and 1Tbsp thyme.
Make sure to rub the seasonings into the skin and score areas of the chicken.
Heat oil in a large skillet (preferably cast iron) over medium-high heat.
Add chicken to the skillet, skin side up, and cook 6 – 10 minutes until you have a nice brown crust forming.
Turn and cook an additional 6 – 10 minutes.
Place chicken in oven and cook for 25 minutes or until done.
Remove from pan, place on plate and keep warm.
Reduce heat to medium, add the onion and sauté 3 – 5 minutes until lightly golden.
Add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute
Next, add the say sauce
the balsamic vinegar
figs
and chicken stock
Simmer until the chutney is reduced to the desired consistency, roughly1 to 1-1/2 cup. Then add the remaining thyme and adjust seasoning as needed.
Place a chicken quarter on a plate
Spoon chutney over the top
Serve & enjoy.
REMCooks 
Thanks! I also love figs and just kinda stewed them with a little added honey. Great with yogurt and freezes nicely.
Thanks for your nice comment. 🙂 We have done figs in a variety of ways and this chutney was very tasty. We currently are toying with the idea of a fig/goat cheese ice cream.
I’m very impressed – great job!! And – I’d love to borrow “Baby Lady” to came to my house to take photos for my blog !!
Thanks, Cecile, for the nice compliment. Baby Lady is tickled you like her photos but I keep her busy enough keeping up with our bog. 😉
Would not mind having this for dinner tonight at all! Lovely obvioulsy organic Chicken Marylands [well, this is what we call them here!] and I do love what you have ‘done’ with the figs. Methinks Baby Lady knows just what she wants. . . wish I had been there too 🙂 ! Now I have to cool my own 😉 !
Thanks, Eha. I had never heard them called Chicken Marylands. This was a very tasty meal, indeed. If you like figs, you will truly enjoy this dish. The chutney would go with a variety of dishes but chicken and pork would be the best proteins with which to pair it.
Hi Richard, I’m really jealous of those fresh figs! I’ve only had fresh sweet ones once in Italy and absolutely loved them. So I can definitely related to the Baby Lady! The imported ones here are very watery. Perhaps I can make this with dried figs, but it would not be the same.
The chicken looks great, too.
Stefan, thanks for the compliment. 🙂 That is such a shame not to have fresh figs available to you are some point in the year. The season is very short, only 60 – 75 days but when they are available we buy them. They are wonderful eaten just by themselves, in baked goods, as jam, in chutneys, topping for ice cream, in sandwiches, etc. You can use dried ones but they will be a little sweeter and the texture won’t be quite right.
P.S. Almost forgot: you are really lucky with Baby Lady. For many reasons obviously, but also because she takes the pictures while you are cooking. I’m not complaining as Kees does a good job of cleaning up after me, but I remember from when Conor was visiting how nice it was for someone else to worry about the camera for a change…
Thanks, Stefan. Not only does she take the vast majority of photos but she also cleans up after me. 🙂 I have always said that the day she married me I became the luckiest man in the world. 🙂
Necessity is the mother of invention, or so they say. Great stuff Richard. You have turned a fried chicken dinner into an art form.
Thanks, Conor. It was very tasty. 🙂
Last season I made fig jam with balsamic and it was wonderful — but it involved canning and, to be honest, I so want to put the canning equipment away for the season. Your chutney sounds far more flavorful and is definitely less of a hassle to make. I want to give this a try and hope I can still find figs at the market. Do you have any idea how long the chutney would keep in the fridge? Thanks for another winner of a recipe.
Hi, John. Thanks for the nice compliment. There is enough acid from the vinegar and sugar from the figs that the chutney should last for roughly 30 days in the fridge.
Yay! See you at the fig display! Thanks, Richard.
One other thing, John. I forgot to point out that this would be remarkably good with pork, especially a pork tenderloin.
I love those kitchen experiments that work, to give you something tasty, exciting & new! How wonderful that baby lady doesn’t mind being your chief taste tester (of course!) I often enjoy the look of surprise on my sweethearts face too, 🙂
I’ve no doubts that it’s hard to go wrong with figs! Even though we’re warming up slowly in Sydney, it’s still a few months yet till they appear in our shelves. Enjoy!
Gorgeous. I love the use of figs in this delicious-looking recipe.
Thank you for the very nice compliment. We hope to see you back. 🙂 I see you live in Albuquerque, NM. We like NM a lot and were married in Santa Fe at the Loretto Chapel. Santa Fe is one of my favorite places in the world.
Of course, Richard. I adore fresh figs – and the photos and recipe are certainly worthy of a special occasion. I look forward to making it once fresh figs come to the market once more!
I love Santa Fe – it is one of the highlights of New Mexico. It sound slike you have some amazing memories from there! We have not lived here long – about four years. We are in New Mexico for a five year surgical residency.
I am loving your website. Especially your flavors – we have similar tastes. Plus, you clearly know what you are doing in the kitchen – blogging great, because I am constantly learning from others about cooking techniques.
Thanks for stopping by and leaving such a warm comment!
Hello Richard! Thank you so much again for being a blogger of the day on our site! We are currently hosting a new recipe contest in search of the best weeknight dinners. This dish would be a great contender! The contest ends 11/14/2013. If you are interested in competing, visit our site for a chance to win a $100 Williams Sonoma gift card!